Ren Tianye was naturally interested.
In fact, he was extremely interested.
He wanted to see just what kind of absurd, mind-boggling things the Empress Xiao Mingzhao had done this time.
He immediately nodded.
Overjoyed, Wei Shuo said, General, please come with me.
As usual, Ren Tianye brought his personal guards, along with his deputy general Wang Ming. Following Wei Shuo, they headed northwest of the capital. They soon arrived at a place that seemed like a hidden paradise on earth.
Backed by the rolling mountains of the imperial gardens and facing the expansive Jingyue Lake, it stood across the water from the main palace halls, like a tranquil sanctuary independent of the capital.
This place is truly not bad.
Wang Ming observed the surroundings and could not help but sigh in admiration.
This was personally supervised by Xiao Mingzhao, of course it is not bad,
Wei Shuo said, his tone still harboring resentment, clearly harboring a deep disgust for this beautiful estate.
He then led the way. After passing through a three-mile-long Yuhua stream corridor and bypassing a layered forest of pink plum blossoms, they finally caught sight of the sweeping eaves, resembling a private residence hidden amidst the prosperity of a golden age.
It was an extremely elegant palace. Unlike the magnificent grandeur of the imperial palace, it exuded a sense of refined gentleness.
In front of its doors stood imperial guards on duty.
Who goes there? Dismount at once!
This is a forbidden area, leave immediately!
Amidst the loud shouts, Ren Tianye's group did not pause at all and went straight ahead. Deputy General Wang Ming immediately spoke on Ren Tianye's behalf: This is the Grand Commandant of our dynasty. Who are you to dare shout so recklessly?
The twenty armored soldiers at the door hastily knelt down.
Reporting to the Lord, we are the guards of Weiyang Palace, ordered by Her Majesty to guard this place day and night.
My Lord, Her Majesty has issued an edict that no one but she may enter this place. If the Lords do not have Her Majesty's edict, please do not make things difficult for us.
The Grand Commandant naturally will not make things difficult for you! Wei Shuo, fearing Ren Tianye would get angry, immediately dismounted, walked up to the guards, and scolded them in a low voice: Fools! Right now, Her Majesty has been residing in the Yuchen Mansion for a long time, and the military power of the capital is solely in the hands of the Grand Commandant. How many heads do you have that you dare to block the Grand Commandant?
Why aren't you letting us pass?
Although these words contained the intention of exonerating the guards, they also carried a strong threat. Under normal circumstances, these guards should have admitted their mistake and stepped aside.
Unexpectedly, these men only showed faces full of conflict.
Yet they still said heavily, No, Her Majesty has given strict orders that no one but her may enter. If you do not have an imperial edict, we will absolutely not let you Lords in.
With that, the guards drew their long swords from their waists one by one.
This made Wei Shuo, who wholeheartedly wanted to protect these guards, feel anxious, but Ren Tianye on horseback grew even more intensely interested.
The Empress had given these Weiyang Palace guards a death order!
What exactly was hidden here?
To warrant such a formation?
Insolent! Wei Shuo's mind raced as he shouted, You dare be so disrespectful to the Grand Commandant? Hmph, do you think the blade of the Marquis of Changping is not sharp? If you dare block us again today, I will certainly cut you down from my horse!
The deterrent power of the title Marquis of Changping was quite effective. At the very least, before Ren Tianye had been in the capital for long and established his merits, the name of the Marquis of Changping was much more useful than Ren Tianye's.
The soldiers looked closely and saw that it was indeed the Marquis of Changping, who had once been bedridden with illness. Only then did they put away their swords one by one. The leader even whispered, Lord Marquis, it is not that we have the courage to stop you, but if we let you in, Her Majesty will probably execute our nine generations. We...
Rest assured, the Grand Commandant is here and will guarantee your safety.
This was exactly the sentence the guards wanted. They immediately fell to their knees and paid their respects to Ren Tianye once again.
Ren Tianye nodded and asked directly, Who is living in the hall?
Reporting to the Grand Commandant... the leading guard hurriedly said, We have never seen them either. Over the past few years, we have only seen Her Majesty come and go, but have never seen anyone come out from inside. However, I have heard some gossip, I just don't know if it's true.
Speak without hesitation.
Yes, Grand Commandant. I heard that living in this Jinghua Hall is a pretty boy secretly kept by Her Majesty. It seems to be a body double for young master Tuoba Xiangtai, kept by Her Majesty.
Whoa!
At this moment, Ren Tianye finally understood.
So this was what Wei Shuo wanted him to see!
A body double of Tuoba Xiangtai!
However, the offensive power of this double against Tuoba Xiangtai didn't seem strong enough. Back then, he had forged many doubles and sent them to Tuoba Xiangtai via memorials, but he hadn't seen Tuoba Xiangtai angrily kill Xiao Mingzhao.
My Lord, this double...
Is not ordinary! Wei Shuo walked up to Ren Tianye's horse again and whispered, After I learned of this from Xiao Ruyi, I ordered my trusted aides to investigate. It took a tremendous amount of effort to get some clues, but it left me thoroughly astonished.
My Lord, you can go inside and take a look.
Ren Tianye nodded, becoming even more curious.
After dismounting, he took Wei Shuo, Wang Ming, and the other guards straight towards Jinghua Hall. The layout inside the hall was magnificent yet elegant, abandoning bright yellow and vermilion in favor of moon white, light purple, and pure white. Warm jade paved the floor, luxurious but not ostentatious, making one feel delighted.
It seemed their movements were heard by the person inside.
Voices could faintly be heard in the distance.
Ren Tianye was about to walk over when Wei Shuo next to him suddenly asked, General, have you ever seen the Third Prince of the Barbarians, Tuoba Xiangtai?
I haven't, why?
That's a bit of a pity, Wei Shuo said. However, I am prepared.
Saying this, he pulled out a scroll and handed it to Ren Tianye with both hands, saying, When Tuoba Xiangtai came to the capital, someone personally painted a portrait of him. It was painted by a famous master in the capital and is incredibly lifelike. If the General takes a look, you will have a general impression of this Tuoba Xiangtai.
Ren Tianye opened the scroll. The man in it was dressed in plain clothes, his face like carved jade, his eyebrows raised and eyes bright, his steps graceful yet steady. What an image of a dashing young master.
This matched perfectly with the information Ren Tianye had gathered previously.
He nodded and was about to return the scroll to Wei Shuo.
Unexpectedly, Wei Shuo said again, General, don't rush. Look a few more times, especially at Tuoba Xiangtai's appearance. You must remember his face.
Ren Tianye asked, Is it very important?
Wei Shuo nodded heavily: Extremely important!
Alright! Ren Tianye looked at it a few more times, making sure he memorized the appearance of Tuoba Xiangtai in the portrait. Wei Shuo still didn't let it go and had Deputy General Wang Ming next to him look at it a few times as well.
Only then did he put away the scroll.
Right at this moment, the footsteps of the person inside the hall approached. As they turned past a screen, a voice drifted over: Luan'er, you haven't come to see me for a long time. Are you finally free today?
The person had arrived right in front of them, but...
The expressions of Ren Tianye and Deputy General Wang Ming both changed drastically.
With a loud clatter, Wang Ming drew his saber from his waist. The personal guards behind him also drew their long swords in unison. In an instant, the gleam of blades flashed.
Even Wei Shuo, who was mentally prepared, subconsciously gripped the sword in his hand.
Then, they heard Wang Ming's cry of disbelief.
"Tuoba Xiangtai, weren't you at the Yuchen Mansion? What are you doing here?"
...
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
